an attempt to maneuver Germany into a position to secure colonial possessions in the Philippines, or even to obtain a German prince on the Philippine throne outright. In late March 1899, Gefion was sent to Kiaotschou in response to mistreatment of German missionaries there; Kapitänleutnant (Captain Lieutenant) Franz Grapow went ashore with a landing party of 132 marines and artillerymen to punish the offenders. In April, Prince Heinrich replaced Diederichs as the squadron commander. That same month, Gefion had to leave the harbor at Wusong to assist Deutschland, which had suffered engine damage. At the end of the month, Gefion steamed up the Yangtze River as far as Hankou. She visited Japanese ports, including Nagasaki, starting in June and the Russian port of Vladivostok in August, before having to assist Deutschland once again, after the latter vessel struck a reef in Samsah Bay in Fujian. As a precautionary measure, she escorted Deutschland to Hong Kong for repairs. At the end of the year, Gefion met Deutschland in Bangkok; the latter vessel was carrying Prince Heinrich back to Germany. In January 1900, Vizeadmiral Felix von Bendemann arrived to take command of the East Asia Squadron, aboard his flagship, the protected cruiser . In the first half of the year, Gefion and the rest of the squadron cruised in the German central Pacific colonies. By the end of May 1900, the unrest that sparked the Boxer Uprising began to appear in the Shandong Peninsula, particularly around the German base at Tsingtau. After the outbreak of the rebellion, Gefion and the rest of the squadron joined ships from other European navies to launch a relief expedition under the command of Edward Hobart Seymour. The ships bombarded Chinese coastal defenses southeast of Tianjin and sent an expeditionary force—the Seymour Expedition—ashore at the Battle of Taku Forts on 16–17 June. The contingent from Gefion was commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Weniger; these men participated in the storming of the Great Hsi-Ku Arsenal in Tianjin. Starting in mid-July, Gefion was stationed outside the mouth of the Yangtze to monitor traffic in the area. In November, she went to Hong Kong for an overhaul. In January 1901, the ship's commander was sent to temporarily govern Tsingtau on behalf of the ill governor. Between February and April, Gefion was in Nagasaki, and in June she was stationed at Shanghai. She stayed there until September, when the Admiralstab (Admiralty Staff)